Poundbury could have a sister town - on the other side of the globe.

The Argentine ambassador to the United Kingdom hopes Prince Charles' model village will inspire similar schemes in Buenos Aires.

Federico Mirre visited the controversial development on the edge of Dorchester for a fact-finding mission.

The ambassador revealed how he has admired Poundbury since arriving in this country 10 months ago.

He described how he hopes the Argentinian government will look to the Duchy of Cornwall estate for inspiration in a bid to create a similar scheme back home.

Mr Mirre told the Echo: "I arrived in the United Kingdom 10 months ago and since then I have been very impressed by Poundbury.

"The idea of social inclusion is excellent and I am glad to visit here to see for myself what is happening at Poundbury.

"In the last 15 years there have been more than 120 new developments built in the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

"None of these though had the idea which is reflected in Poundbury and that is something which I hope changes.

"Things have improved in the last couple of years but there is still a long way to go.

"Hopefully the ideas of Poundbury will spread to Argentina and it is certainly something I am going to ask our government to try and do more. I hope we will see a Poundbury near Buenos Aires in the not too distant future."

Mr Mirre and his wife Cecilia joined Duchy representatives for a tour of the village and enjoyed lunch in the Poet Laureate pub, where Argentinian wine was on the menu to make the guests feel at home.

Poundbury development director Andrew Hamilton said the Duchy was delighted to welcome the Argentine ambassador.

"We always welcome visitors here and it is particularly great to see foreign visitors coming to see what we have achieved here," he said.

"The ambassador's visit shows Poundbury is becoming renowned all over the world which is very pleasing."